Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was a huge center in Poland for Jewish culture. More than 30% (350,000) of the population was Jewish. In fact, Warsaw held the most Jews in a single city in the world, second only to New York City. As the Nazi Regime grew, they attacked Poland on September 1st, 1939. Shortly after Warsaw surrenderred, Germans invaded the city on September 29. Very shortly after, Germans ordered the formation of a Jewish Council (Judenrat in German). On November 23, German cilivion authorities required all Jews to identify themselves with a blue armband emblazoned with the Star of David (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw).
One of the armbands the Jews were forced to wear during the capture of Poland.
Warsaw Ghetto
Slightly more then a year after the German capture of Poland, German officials declared the creation of a ghetto in Warsaw. Ghettos were used by the Germans to separate Jews from Non-Jews until they could kill them. Every Jew in and in surrounding towns of Warsaw was forced to move into the ghetto. Germans blocked off a whole district from the main city and dedicated to the Jewish population. Over 400,000 Jews were forced to live in approximately 1.3 sqaure miles, making about 7-8 Jews in every room of living space. The German food rations were not enough to live on. In fact, Jews, children and adult alike, were living on about 1,125 calories a day. A healthy adult should have 2,000-2,500 every day, while growing children require more. One of the men who ran the Judenrat wrote in his diary for one entry "Children Starving". From July 1940 to 1942, Nazis carried out mass deportations of around 80,000 to the Treblinka killing center. In 1943, The Germans attempted to bring a deportation of Jews to a forced labor center. The Jews believed they were taking them to Treblinka and fought back with arranged ranks and pistols. While many of the fighters died, the fight scattered the Germans and caused them to stop deportations for a time (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw).
A bridge connected parts of the ghetto to keep Jews out of Non-Jew areas.
Ghetto Uprising
Shortly after the resistance and puase in deportations, Jew began to build bunkers that they could hide and live in while the final fight against the Germans went on. Meanwhile, the Nazis made plans to enter the ghetto and liquidate it, killing everybody. An armed defense unit had been formed called the ZOB to fight against the Germans. When SS and soldies entered the ghetto, the streets were deserted. Everyone had gone into a bunker of hiding place. To the ZOB, a return in deportations was a signal to stop fighting. They fought with all they had (which was not too much) using pistols, homemade grenades, and a few assualt rifles. On the first day they were able to push the soldiers behind the city walls. Of course, this could not last. The Germans got orders to blow up and destroy all the building, systematically driving all the Jews out of their hiding places (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw Uprising).
Aftermath of the uprising
Soone after the buildings in the city were destroyed, many Jews lived in small groups, hiding in the rubble of a destroyed city and fighting the Nazis. The Germans showed that there was no hope of establishing any strong army against them by destroying the cathedral and government buildings. They captured near 50,000 Jews and killed more. They had destroyed 631 bunkers and deported the rest of the Jews to the killing center. This resistance inspired resistance and uprising in many other ghettos, causing similar results (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw Uprising).
Capture of Warsaw and Poland
Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was a huge center in Poland for Jewish culture. More than 30% (350,000) of the population was Jewish. In fact, Warsaw held the most Jews in a single city in the world, second only to New York City. As the Nazi Regime grew, they attacked Poland on September 1st, 1939. Shortly after Warsaw surrenderred, Germans invaded the city on September 29. Very shortly after, Germans ordered the formation of a Jewish Council (Judenrat in German). On November 23, German cilivion authorities required all Jews to identify themselves with a blue armband emblazoned with the Star of David (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw).
Warsaw Ghetto
Slightly more then a year after the German capture of Poland, German officials declared the creation of a ghetto in Warsaw. Ghettos were used by the Germans to separate Jews from Non-Jews until they could kill them. Every Jew in and in surrounding towns of Warsaw was forced to move into the ghetto. Germans blocked off a whole district from the main city and dedicated to the Jewish population. Over 400,000 Jews were forced to live in approximately 1.3 sqaure miles, making about 7-8 Jews in every room of living space. The German food rations were not enough to live on. In fact, Jews, children and adult alike, were living on about 1,125 calories a day. A healthy adult should have 2,000-2,500 every day, while growing children require more. One of the men who ran the Judenrat wrote in his diary for one entry "Children Starving". From July 1940 to 1942, Nazis carried out mass deportations of around 80,000 to the Treblinka killing center. In 1943, The Germans attempted to bring a deportation of Jews to a forced labor center. The Jews believed they were taking them to Treblinka and fought back with arranged ranks and pistols. While many of the fighters died, the fight scattered the Germans and caused them to stop deportations for a time (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw).
Ghetto Uprising
Shortly after the resistance and puase in deportations, Jew began to build bunkers that they could hide and live in while the final fight against the Germans went on. Meanwhile, the Nazis made plans to enter the ghetto and liquidate it, killing everybody. An armed defense unit had been formed called the ZOB to fight against the Germans. When SS and soldies entered the ghetto, the streets were deserted. Everyone had gone into a bunker of hiding place. To the ZOB, a return in deportations was a signal to stop fighting. They fought with all they had (which was not too much) using pistols, homemade grenades, and a few assualt rifles. On the first day they were able to push the soldiers behind the city walls. Of course, this could not last. The Germans got orders to blow up and destroy all the building, systematically driving all the Jews out of their hiding places (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw Uprising).Aftermath of the uprising
Soone after the buildings in the city were destroyed, many Jews lived in small groups, hiding in the rubble of a destroyed city and fighting the Nazis. The Germans showed that there was no hope of establishing any strong army against them by destroying the cathedral and government buildings. They captured near 50,000 Jews and killed more. They had destroyed 631 bunkers and deported the rest of the Jews to the killing center. This resistance inspired resistance and uprising in many other ghettos, causing similar results (Holocaust Museum, Warsaw Uprising).
Works Cited
"Holocaust History." Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. United States Holocaust Museum, 24 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/uprising/>.
"Holocaust History." Warsaw. United States Holocaust Museum, 11 May 2011. Web. 06 Sept. 2012. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005069.
A bridge connected parts of the ghetto to keep Jews out of Non-Jew areas
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005069.
One of the armbands the Jews were forced to wear during the capture of Poland.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005069.